In a move toward greater inclusion, the freshly finalized set of 2019
emoji addresses people with physical disabilities, covering mechanical
arms and legs, sign language and hearing aids, and even the difference
between manual and motorized wheelchairs. The Unicode Consortium
evidently heeded Apple’s proposal last year to better represent people with disabilities, and the new Unicode Emoji 12.0
additions announced today reflect that desire to the fullest. There’s
also greater inclusiveness in terms of skin tones and relationship
types, as a bunch of new variants of the “people holding hands” emoji
expand the combinations of genders and races.

Besides humans, the new emoji also broaden the range of other animals
represented, with otters, orangutans, flamingos, and sloths all making
it in. On the food front, there’s now butter, garlic, onion, falafel,
waffles, and ice cubes. More ominous additions include razors, axes, and
a drop of blood. In total, there are 59 new emoji and 171 new
variations on existing ones.

One of Emojipedia’s most requested
emoji was apparently a white heart, and that omission is now being
rectified. In fact, as of 2019, all of the major colors will be
represented with circle, square, and heart-shaped emoji. If you’ve been
waiting to express yourself with a brown heart, this will be the year
your wait comes to an end.

As per usual, the new emoji additions
will take a few months to show up in consumer products. The present
announcement is merely to get the documentation in order, and then it
will be up to software providers like Apple, Google, Samsung, and
Microsoft to design their own takes on each emoji and implement those in
their device interfaces.